Fred Trueman's most prized article -
The 300th wicket ball © AFP
Full name Frederick Sewards Trueman
Born February 6, 1931, Stainton, Yorkshire
Died July 1, 2006, Airedale General Hospital, Keighley, Yorkshire (aged 75 years 145 days)
Major teams England, Derbyshire, Yorkshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Other Commentator, Journalist, Author
Profile
Fred Trueman commentating for Test Matchs
© Getty Images
Frederick Sewards (Fred) Trueman OBE generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968. He represented England in 67 Test matches and was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career. He and Brian Statham opened the England bowling together for many years and formed one of the most famous bowling partnerships in Test cricket history.Trueman's talent, skill and popularity were such that British Prime Minister Harold Wilson described him as the "greatest living Yorkshireman", yet Trueman was omitted from numerous Test teams because he was frequently in conflict with the cricket establishment, which he often criticised for its perceived "snobbishness" and hypocrisy.After he retired from playing, Trueman became a media personality through work in television and as a popular and outspoken radio summariser.
Fred Trueman was born at no. 5, Scotch Springs, Stainton near Maltby, West Riding of Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire). He said himself that he weighed 14 lb 1 oz (6.4 kg) at birth and was delivered by his grandmother Mrs Stimpson. Her maiden name was Sewards and Fred's parents decided to honour her by naming him Frederick Sewards Trueman.
Cover image of Fred Trueman:
Biography by Chris Waters......
© Aurum Press Ltd
His parents were Alan and Ethel Trueman and he was the middle one of seven children. They were a country family, their home being part of a terrace row called Scotch Springs (now demolished) that was surrounded by countryside but about a mile from Maltby Main Colliery and half a mile from Stainton village. Trueman's grandfather had been a horse dealer and his father worked primarily with horses too, though for a time he was a coalface worker at Maltby Main. His parents instilled into all the children a strong sense of discipline and the values of honesty and forthrightness.
Trueman's education began at the village school in Stainton where his teachers recognised his talent for cricket. He had started bowling when he was four and was playing in games involving adults by the time he was eight. His father was captain of the Stainton club and Trueman used to accompany him to matches, though he claimed that he didn't have great enthusiasm for cricket as a youngster and that it was only his father's "devotion to the game" that kept him involved. He did say, however, that he always bowled fast and that this "just happened naturally".
When Trueman was twelve years old, the family removed to a larger house on Tennyson Road in nearby Maltby. He attended Maltby Secondary School having lost the chance of going to a grammar school because his parents could not afford the uniform and books required.But at Maltby Secondary, Trueman had two teachers called Dickie Harrison and Tommy Stubbs who recognised his talent as a bowler and picked him for the school team, even though he was much younger than the other players. His school playing career was interrupted for two years after he was seriously injured by a ball that hit him in the groin. He started playing again when he was fourteen and, with his father's encouragement, joined a village club called Roche Valley. A year later, he took six wickets for only one run as Roche Valley defeated a club from one of the main leagues that was "in a different class of cricket from us". Afterwards, the captain of this team contacted former Yorkshire player Cyril Turner who was coaching the Sheffield United Cricket Club which played at Bramall Lane, a ground then in regular use by
Fred Trueman and Garry Sobers share a drink
© PA Photos
After leaving school, Trueman had a number of jobs including work on a building site, in a wire works and in a glass factory. He was playing for Sheffield United's second team every Saturday. He acknowledged his debt to Cyril Turner, "a superb coach", who taught him how to hold the ball properly and enable it to "swing" both ways; and how to follow through properly to complete his bowling action. In 1948, when Trueman was sixteen, he was invited by Yorkshire CCC to join the Yorkshire Federation team for players under eighteen, effectively the county's third team. The team toured the south of England and it was on this tour that Trueman met two of his future Yorkshire colleagues, Brian Close and Ray Illingworth. When he returned to Sheffield, Cyril Turner promoted him to the Sheffield United first team so that he could play in the prestigious Yorkshire Council league. Trueman had already met a number of great Yorkshire players including George Herbert Hirst and he was delighted by an end of season newspaper report in which Herbert Sutcliffe predicted that Trueman would play for Yorkshire before he was nineteen and for England before he was twenty-one. During the winter of 1948–49, Trueman attended the Yorkshire indoor nets at Headingley, in Leeds, where he was coached by Bill Bowes and Arthur Mitchell.
As the 1949 season began, Trueman was surprised to receive a call from Yorkshire to play for the first team in the opening first-class matches against Cambridge University at Fenner's and Oxford University at The Parks.He made his first-class debut on Wednesday, 11 May, in the three-day match against Cambridge which Yorkshire won by 9 wickets. He was mistakenly referred to in the Wisden match report as a spin bowler,but opening the bowling in both innings with Brian Close, who was medium pace, Trueman took 2–72 and 1–22 as Cambridge were dismissed for 283 and 196 respectively. Yorkshire scored 317–6 declared and 164–1 so Trueman, who was number 11 in the order, did not bat. Trueman's first wicket was that of opening batsman Robert Morris, who was caught by Ellis Robinson for 19. In the second innings, Trueman bowled the future Sussex and England batsman Hubert Doggart for 23.Three other debutants that day who all became England players were Close and opening batsman Frank Lowson for Yorkshire; and Middlesex fast bowler John Warr for Cambridge. Many years later, Warr wrote the biographical piece about Trueman in Barclays World of Cricket.Trueman had match figures of 6–72 in his second match against Oxford, which Yorkshire lost by 69 runs.
A month later, he took 8–70 against the Minor Counties on his first appearance at Lord's, bowling unchanged through the second innings.In his first County Championship match, playing against Surrey at Park Avenue, Bradford, Trueman bowled "fast and with effect".As with most of their young players, Yorkshire intended to take their time over establishing Trueman and were prepared to set him aside for lengthy periods. The established pace bowlers in 1949 were Alec Coxon and Ron Aspinall, both fast-medium, while captain Norman Yardley was a "capable third seam bowler".History was against Trueman as the county rarely looked for fast bowlers with express speed, instead preferring "the medium of fast-medium bowler with his capacity for control, economy and long spells". Trueman, once he became established, was a clear breach of Yorkshire tradition.
The great Yorkshire team of the 1930s had been broken up by the Second World War and a rebuilding phase was underway by the late 1940s, although Yorkshire had won the first post-war County Championship in 1946. Norman Yardley succeeded Brian Sellers as captain in 1948 and his main team members that season were Len Hutton, Ted Lester, Harry Halliday, Vic Wilson, Willie Watson, Frank Smailes, Johnny Wardle, Don Brennan (wicket-keeper), Ellis Robinson, Ron Aspinall and Alex Coxon. Others in the picture were future captain Billy Sutcliffe and two more young fast-medium bowlers, Bill Foord and Johnny Whitehead.
The England team line up for a minute's
silence for Fred Trueman © Getty
The main team changes in 1949 were the retirement of Frank Smailes; the immediate establishment of Close and Lowson, who played in 22 and 24 championship matches respectively while Trueman only played in four; and an injury to Aspinall who was restricted to just three games.Aspinall had taken thirty wickets in his three matches and had been picked for a Test Trial but, at the end of May, he ruptured an Achilles tendon and was out of action for the rest of the season; indeed, he was never an effective bowler again.Yorkshire initially replaced Aspinall with Frank McHugh but then brought Trueman back in June before dropping him in July in order to try out Foord and Whitehead.Trueman was recalled to play against the New Zealand tourists at Bramall Lane later in July but his debut season ended there and then as he sustained a thigh injury and had to be carried off the field.
He could only watch from the sidelines as Yorkshire took part in "a fine struggle" for the championship which, in the end, they shared with Middlesex, both teams earning 192 points.Trueman played in eight first-class matches in 1949, all for Yorkshire; in five matches for the Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship; and in one other match for Yorkshire's first team against an Army XI which included another up and coming fast bowler, Frank Tyson.Trueman's 8–70 against the Minor Counties was his best performance and he took 31 first-class wickets in all at 23.19.
Trueman's first match in the 1950 season was for Yorkshire against the West Indies tourists at Park Avenue. He made 12 appearances in the County Championship and played for "The Rest" against England in a Test Trial. He made only one appearance for the Second XI. He again took 31 first-class wickets, but at the much higher average of 28.25 and his best analysis this time was only 3–28.
On the face of it, and certainly in terms of his bowling figures to date, it was a surprise that Trueman was selected for the Test Trial.This was "a match immortalised by Jim Laker's eight for two".But Trueman's inclusion was designed to give the England batsmen practice against fast bowling even though, at this period of his career, Trueman was inaccurate in both length and direction.The selectors were driven by the repeated discomfiture of England batsmen against the great Australian bowlers Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, but John Arlott suspected there was also a subconscious urge to "reflect public feeling, the national desire for a fast bowler, even an inexperienced one – anyone so long as he was fast"
Fred Trueman takes pride of place at Skipton’s Canal Basin.
© panoramio.com
1950 was a frustrating season for Trueman who was straining to establish himself in the Yorkshire team. The committee, however, persisted in a policy of short-term usage followed by a period of discard while they looked at Whitehead. Trueman faced the added problem of trying to succeed in an atmosphere of prevailing "discontent in the dressing room" which amounted to much more than a typical "them and us" situation between players and committee. Trueman said that the team itself was "split into cliques", specifically the "gentlemen players" and one or two senior professionals like Hutton, who had social ambitions, on the one hand; and the younger professionals like himself, Close, Illingworth and Lowson on the other. The situation was exacerbated by bad feeling between some of the professionals, Wardle in particular being a difficult person to have in a team. Although he was fast, Trueman was often wayward and sometimes expensive. These "negatives assumed great importance" in such a dour and unforgiving atmosphere. However, on Trueman's debit side, some of his colleagues perceived him to be "loud-mouthed and seemingly insensitive".
Trueman was downhearted enough at this time to even think about joining Yorkshire's traditional rivals Lancashire. But at the end of the season, he went back to the winter nets where he listened to Bowes and Mitchell, practised, kept himself fit and looked forward with increasing determination to the future. Trueman was an "apt pupil" and Bowes said of him: "He had the three great assets for the job: a love of fast bowling, a powerful physique and a smooth cartwheel action".
Yorkshire finished third in the County Championship, twenty points adrift of the joint winners Lancashire and Surrey.For the most part, Yorkshire selected from 15 players in 1950 although a few others made occasional appearances. Yardley captained the team in which Hutton and Lowson were the established openers although, with Hutton's Test calls, there were more opportunities for Halliday and Geoffrey Keighley. Lester, Watson, Wilson and Billy Sutcliffe were the other batsmen and Brennan was the wicket-keeper. The main bowlers were Wardle, Coxon and Eddie Leadbeater. Brian Close was doing his National Service and could only make a single appearance, Ellis Robinson had departed and Ron Aspinall's career had been wrecked by his injury. So Trueman and Whitehead, who made 13 appearances, contested the fourth bowling place but one of the bit players was Bob Appleyard, who would make a major impact in 1951.
The next stage in Trueman's development was to harness his speed and exercise full control of the ball. This was what Bowes and Mitchell worked on in 1950–51 and "the improvement in his bowling was immediately noticeable". Whereas in 1949 and 1950 he had taken 31 wickets in both seasons at average costs of 23.19 and 28.25 apiece, he took 90 first-class wickets at 20.57 in 1951 including 5 wickets in an innings six times.His best analysis of the season was 8–53 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge when he captured his first hat-trick by making the ball swing with devastating effect, Yorkshire winning by 9 wickets. His hat-trick victims were Reg Simpson, Alan Armitage and Peter Harvey.All four of Trueman's career hat-tricks were taken for Yorkshire and this is a county record he shares with George Macaulay. The hat-trick match was the second time Trueman had destroyed the Nottinghamshire batting that season. A month earlier at Bramall Lane, he had taken 3–26 and 8–68, enabling Yorkshire to win by an innings and 33 runs. According to Wisden, Trueman "bowled at very fast pace and frequently made the ball fly".
Trueman might have expected that eleven-wicket haul at Bramall Lane to firmly establish his place in the Yorkshire first-team but his immediate reward was to be rested and given twelfth man duties with the Second XI, who were playing against Lincolnshire at Cleethorpes Sports Ground. To be fair to Yorkshire, the teams for the subsequent first and second XI matches had already been chosen when he took his 8–68.But he quickly swallowed his disappointment and his 8–53 at Trent Bridge was summarised by one of his biographers Don Mosey as "the start of the Trueman era".
Cover of 'As It Was:
The Memoirs of Fred Trueman'
© ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Despite their internal problems and disharmony, Yorkshire finished second behind Warwickshire in the County Championship. One of the problem players, Alex Coxon, surprisingly resigned after the 1950 season and it was widely said that "his face did not fit", even though he was a top-class bowler who had played for England. Brian Close made only two appearances as he completed his National Service; and Ray Illingworth made his debut but played in only the one match. With Johnny Whitehead playing only seven times, Yorkshire relied mainly on a squad of 13 players including Trueman, who played in 26 championship matches. The other twelve regulars were Yardley (captain), Hutton, Lowson, Lester, Watson, Wilson, Halliday, Sutcliffe, Brennan, Wardle, Leadbeater and Appleyard.
Trueman made 30 first-class appearances in 1951, more than doubling his career tally, and showed that he was a great fielding prospect too by holding 21 catches. At this early stage of his career, he had not developed any real batting ability and could only contribute 114 runs with a highest score of 25.On Monday, 13 August, Trueman and Bob Appleyard were awarded their county caps by team captain Norman Yardley.
Since his first involvement with Yorkshire in 1948, Trueman had been working a winter job at Maltby Main in the tally office (contrary to one of the urban myths about him, he was never actually a miner). Yorkshire had encouraged him to work for the National Coal Board so that he would be in a reserved occupation and so avoid National Service. But in the winter of 1950–51, he learned that his job was to be declassified and that he would be liable for call-up at some stage. He decided to volunteer after the 1951 season and, at the same time, take advantage of a new Yorkshire committee ruling that any capped players who were called up would be paid £5 a week, which was a good wage at the time.
posterize image:© cricketfestival.com
Trueman undertook his National Service in the Royal Air Force at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire. At that stage, "the RAF was probably less hierarchical than Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and he coped with the vagaries of service life rather better than he did with the Yorkshire committee". He was there through the next two seasons until he was demobilised at the end of the 1953 season. During this time he made his Test debut for England against India in 1952 and took part in the 1953 Ashes series against Australia. He was fortunate in having a station commander in Group Captain Jim Warfield who was a cricket enthusiast and was willing to grant him leave for Test and occasional county matches. In addition, Warfield decided to employ Trueman in the sports section, looking after the equipment and playing fields.
However, this relaxation of the usual rules caused questions to be raised in the House of Commons after the mother of another conscript complained to her local MP that her son had been refused leave to take part in a national banjo playing championship. Trueman claimed that he was the first person to be mentioned in Hansard in a cricketing connection.Trueman's identity in the RAF was AC2 F S Trueman 2549485. He was later promoted to AC1.
National Service restricted Trueman to just nine first-class matches in 1952 but four of them were Tests. He made his debut for England on Thursday, 5 June, after he was selected for the First Test against India at Headingley. Len Hutton had been appointed England captain before the series as the first professional to hold the post in the 20th century and the first ever to hold it in a home series. The appointment was controversial, especially among the amateur establishment, but Hutton had "an easy initiation against a weak Indian side, who did not relish the tearaway bowling of the young Trueman".England won the match in four days by 7 wickets. After taking 3–89 in the first innings when India scored 293, Trueman produced a sensational opening spell in the second innings and, after only 14 balls had been bowled, India were reduced to 0–4, Trueman taking three of the wickets. He finished with 4–27 as India recovered to score 165. England had made 334 in the first innings and a second innings total of 128–3 secured the win.Although Hutton was Trueman's team mate at Yorkshire, the two did not get on well and this was to have an impact on Trueman's early Test career. The rest of the England team in his debut match were Reg Simpson, Peter May, Denis Compton, Tom Graveney, Allan Watkins, Godfrey Evans, Roly Jenkins, Jim Laker and Alec Bedser.
Fred Trueman stands with his,
memorabilia collection prior,
to auction © AFP
In the Second Test at Lord's, England won by 8 wickets. Trueman, again opening the bowling with Alec Bedser, took 4–72 and 4–110. He also enjoyed a brisk knock with the bat, coming in at number eleven with England on 514–9, by scoring 17 in only 9 minutes with two fours and a six.In the Third Test at Old Trafford, England won by an innings and 207 runs with Trueman taking 8–31 and 1–9.The final Test at The Oval was ruined by rain and drawn after England scored 326–6 declared and India had been bowled out for only 98. Trueman with 5–48 and Bedser with 5–41 were almost unplayable.His tally of wickets in his debut series was therefore 29.
Trueman took 61 first-class wickets in the season at the outstanding average of only 13.78, his best analysis being his 8–31 in the Old Trafford Test. He had five instances of 5 wickets in an innings.He scored 40 runs and took 5 catches.He had one problem during the season in "a tendency to get stitch", which was diagnosed as "a lack of regular fast bowling exercise".
In the 1952 County Championship, Yorkshire made a strong challenge but ultimately finished as runners-up to Stuart Surridge's great Surrey team which began a remarkable run of seven consecutive titles to 1958.Trueman was restricted to five championship appearances but Yorkshire did get Brian Close back from his National Service. Yardley was again the captain and the other mainstays were Hutton, Lowson, Lester, Halliday, Wilson, Watson, Sutcliffe, Brennan, Wardle, Leadbeater and the fast-medium bowler Bill Holdsworth who was effectively Trueman's stand-in. Holdsworth played 24 matches in 1952 and 1953 only; but never again after Trueman returned to full-time action in 1954.
As a result of his fine performances in 1952, Trueman was voted the Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club.
The following spring, he was named as one of the Cricketers of the Year for 1952 by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in its 1953 edition. Wisden said of Trueman in its citation that he "is 5 ft 10 ½ in. and weighs 13 st 9lbs" and "gives promise of becoming a second Harold Larwood". Having mentioned his problem with "stitch", Wisden remarked that "it is doubtful whether Trueman has reached the stage of physical development to bowl the long spells which may be necessary against Test batsmen of the highest class". While Yorkshire thought Trueman would need two more seasons "before he can do everything asked", England certainly possess "the best fast bowling prospect in years" and Wisden followed this comment with a direct comparison of Trueman's attributes with those of Larwood.
Writing in 1999, Derek Birley said of Trueman at this pivotal moment in his career that he was "still learning his craft and, rather more slowly, how to behave". Birley viewed Trueman as "an early cricketing example of a post-war phenomenon, the brash and undisciplined youth tolerated for his talent – the anti-hero"But Birley admitted that Trueman eventually became "an immensely popular public figure" thanks to his "rudimentary sense of humour, prodigious memory and forthright views", all of which made him a media favourite on the one hand but, on the other, the same qualities made him "less popular on the county cricket circuit", where he was "dreaded off the field like the Ancient Mariner".
Trueman played football for Lincoln City during his National Service. He played football for RAF Hemswell during the 1952–53 season and was spotted by Lincoln City manager Bill Anderson, who invited him to play for the Lincoln reserves. Trueman was a forward, playing either as a striker or on the wing. Given the publicity Trueman had received after his performances in the 1952 Test series, there was a lot of public interest in his football and Lincoln's attendances increased considerably when he was playing. Eventually, Bill Anderson offered him professional terms but Trueman decided to concentrate on cricket and, aware of the risk to his Test and county career if he sustained a football injury, he declined.Trueman played in 15 first-class matches in 1953 and scored 131 runs, including his best career score to date of 34; and he took 15 catches, one per match.With the ball, he was not as effective as in 1952, taking 44 wickets at the high average of 32.06. His best analysis was 6–47 and he took 10 wickets in a match once, 5 wickets in an innings twice.The highlight of the season, for him and all other England cricket followers, was the series victory over Australia that enabled England to win The Ashes for the first time since the bodyline series in 1932–33. Trueman missed the first four Tests, which were all drawn, and played in the last at The Oval which England won by 8 wickets, partly thanks to him taking four important wickets."Erratic, yes; wild, most certainly; but full of fire and dynamite", wrote Jack Fingleton.
Yorkshire by contrast had a poor season, though it could partly be excused by the impact of Test calls, injuries and Trueman's National Service. They dropped to twelfth place, which was then their lowest-ever position.Ray Illingworth, who had made only a handful of appearances previously, was an ever-present in Yorkshire's championship team in 1953 and other young prospects making progress were Mike Cowan, Doug Padgett, Bryan Stott and Ken Taylor. Otherwise, the mainstays were as before: Yardley, Hutton, Lowson, Lester, Halliday, Watson, Wilson, Sutcliffe, Brennan and Wardle. Close played in only two matches and Trueman in ten. Bill Holdsworth made 14 appearances and Bill Foord, in his last season before finally deciding to be a schoolteacher, made 22.
Trueman's first overseas tour was in the following winter after he was demobilised by the RAF. He played in eight first-class matches, including three of the five Tests, and took 27 wickets at 33.66 with a best effort of 5–45.But this was a controversial tour and its ramifications had an adverse impact on Trueman's international career during the next few years. MCC at the outset were "riddled with anxiety" about sending a team abroad under a professional captain but could hardly deny Hutton his right having just won The Ashes. England had a very strong team in which the main bowlers were Bailey, Laker, Lock, Wardle, Trueman and Statham. However, they had also some strong characters and weak management.
Hutton discouraged fraternisation with the West Indies players and this went decidedly against Trueman's grain, given that he was a gregarious character who liked nothing better than to fraternise.Trueman had made friends with Frank Worrell and other West Indian players when he met them in English league cricket and objected strongly to Hutton's policy, claiming that he was not alone in this and especially as Hutton gave no reason for it. Trueman suspected the MCC hierarchy of instructing Hutton to make the demand. For his own part, he would not allow anyone to dictate who he would be friends with.C L R James commented on the 1953–54 team that it was "actively disliked". He said that this was "not due merely to unsportsmanlike behaviour by individuals" but that there was "evidence to show" that the team was there primarily to "establish the prestige of Great Britain, and by that, of the local whites".
Back in England after the tour of the West Indies, Trueman was able to play a full season for the first time since 1951. He played in 33 matches and, for the first time, exceeded 100 wickets in a season. His tally was 134 at 15.55 with a best return of 8–28. He took 5 wickets in an innings on 10 occasions but never managed 10 in a match. His batting was again invariably of tailender quality but he did manage to score a half-century for the first time with a score of 50 not out. His fielding was outstanding as usual and he took 32 catches in his 33 matches.but, despite his excellent form, there was no place for Trueman in any of the Test matches against Pakistan, nor was he selected for the tour of Australia and New Zealand the following winter.
Trueman had an even better season with Yorkshire in 1955, taking 153 wickets at 16.03. He had 10 in a match three times and 5 in an innings eight times, including his best analysis of 7–23. He held 26 catches in 31 appearances and managed to improve his highest score to 74, that being his only half-century.He did force his way back into the England team for the Second Test at Lord's, in which England defeated South Africa by 71 runs. Opening the bowling with Statham, Trueman took 2–73, which was expensive, and 0–39 while Statham won the match for England with 2–49 and a brilliant 7–39. That was Trueman's only Test in 1955 as Frank Tyson was recalled for the Third Test at Old Trafford.There was no Test tour in 1955–56 so Trueman had to wait a whole year for his next chance to play for England.
The Australians visited in 1956 and he was recalled for two Tests against them. In the Second Test at Lord's, which Australia won by 185 runs, Trueman opened the bowling with Statham and took 2–54 and 5–90. During the second innings, he reached his 50th wicket in Test cricket when he had Keith Miller caught behind, but Miller had the last laugh as his ten-wicket haul won the match for Australia.
Trueman had done enough to retain his place for the Third Test at Headingley where England won by an innings and 42 runs. But it was a spinner's wicket and 18 of the Australian wickets fell to Jim Laker and Tony Lock. Trueman opened the bowling with his future Test Match Special colleague Trevor Bailey and took 1–19 and 1–21, dismissing Colin McDonald in both innings.Brian Statham returned for the now legendary Fourth Test at Old Trafford, taking Trueman's place and opening the bowling with Bailey, but no pace bowlers were needed here for this was "Laker's Match", the Surrey off-spinner taking an unparalleled 19 wickets in the match.Trueman made 31 first-class appearances in 1956 but it was a disappointing season as he could only manage 59 wickets at 23.44. He was not included in the 1956–57 tour of South Africa, in which England relied for pace on Bailey, Statham, Tyson and Peter Loader. To keep his name in the frame, Trueman accepted an invitation to make a short tour of India with C G Howard's XI, which played two matches.
Trueman returned to the fore in 1957 and finally became an established England player, taking part in all five Tests against West Indies. He was England's leading wicket-taker with 22 at 20.68. His great partnership with Statham began in earnest and for six years the pair were a formidable presence in international cricket: Statham "accurate and persistent", Trueman "rhythmic and dynamic".Trueman played in 32 first-class matches in 1957, taking 135 wickets at 17.05 with a best return of 7–37. He had 10 wickets in a match twice and 5 in an innings nine times. He had an outstanding time in his favoured leg slip position too, holding 36 catches.
Trueman played in 30 first-class matches in 1958 including all five Tests against New Zealand. He took 106 wickets at a very low 13.33 with best figures of 6–23, one of six 5-wicket hauls. He held 22 catches in the season and it was about this time that he began to prove himself a more reliable batsman, eventually being able to rise from number 11 to about 8 or 9 in batting orders. He scored 453 runs in 1958 with 3 half-centuries and a highest score of 61.Despite sending a very strong team on this tour, England lost The Ashes to Richie Benaud's Australians.
Trueman took part in the last three Tests. played in twelve first-class matches and took 37 wickets at 22.24 with best figures of 5–42. He took 11 catches and scored 266 runs at 17.73 with a highest innings of 53.On the New Zealand tour, Trueman played in all five first-class matches, including two Tests, and took 20 wickets at 12.20 with best figures of 8–45 and 10 wickets in a match once.
For the first time in Trueman's career, Yorkshire won the County Championship outright. He made a major contribution to that success as he took 140 wickets in his 30 first-class appearances at 19.50 with a best return of 7–57 among six 5 wicket hauls. He took 24 catches and scored 602 runs, easily his largest tally in a season to date, with a highest score of 54.England played India in the Test series and Trueman, whose selection problems were by now behind him, played in all five Tests.Trueman took 37 wickets and 11 catches in 10 first-class appearances including all five Test matches.
Trueman played in all five matches of the Test series against South Africa.Yorkshire won a second successive County Championship.He made 32 first-class appearances and took 175 wickets, the highest season tally of his entire career, at the outstanding average of 13.98. He took 10 in a match four times and 5 in an innings 12 times with a best return of 7–41.Still improving as a batsman, though he was never consistent enough to be termed an all-rounder, he made 577 runs at 16.48 in 1960 with three half-centuries and a highest score of 69. He held 22 catches, mostly in his favourite position at leg slip.
Trueman played in the first four Tests against Australia. England failed to regain The Ashes.Yorkshire finished second in the County Championship behind Hampshire, who won the title for the first time.He had another outstanding season with 155 wickets at 19.35 in his 34 first-class appearances. He took 10 in a match four times and 5 in an innings eleven times with best figures of 7–45.Surprisingly, he held only 13 catches though he was still one of the best leg slip fielders in the game, but he continued to provide the occasional good innings and made his highest score to date of 80 not out among 4 half-centuries and a season's total of 809 runs.In a five-Test series, England made short work of a Pakistan team that was weak in attack. As in 1961, Trueman played in the first four Tests but not the Fifth Test at The Oval.Yorkshire regained the County Championship title.In another outstanding season of pace and swing, Trueman took 153 first-class wickets at 17.75 with best figures of 8–84. He had one 10 wicket match and five 5 wicket returns. He made 33 first-class appearances in 1962 and scored 840 runs, which was the best season tally of his whole career but, because of inconsistency, he remained well short of the standard required if he was to be termed an all-rounder, though that is not something he ever pursued given his workload as a specialist bowler. Despite his total of runs, a score of 63 was his only half-century. He held 24 catches.
Fred Trueman and Brian Statham had 216 and 229 wickets respectively when they toured Australia in 1962–63 and were poised to overtake the record of 236 Test wickets set by the assistant-manager Alec Bedser. The Australian captain Richie Benaud was another contender with 219 wickets, but it was Statham who broke the record. Trueman took 5-62 in the only England victory at Melbourne and Ted Dexter used him in short bursts, setting defensive fields until his strike bowler could return. The Reverend David Sheppard dropped some vital catches on the tour, and when he missed a sitter off Trueman from Neil Harvey in the Fourth Test Trueman told him "The only time your hands are together are on Sunday". This is a story that increased with the telling, another version being "Pretend it's Sunday Reverend, and keep your hands together",. Statham did not tour New Zealand and Trueman took his 243rd Test wicket to set a new record and finished with 250. He was presented with the ball that took the 243rd wicket and received telegrams of congratulations from every county except
Although England were well beaten by Frank Worrell's outstanding West Indies team, Trueman had an outstanding series.Yorkshire retained the County Championship title.He made 27 first-class appearances in 1963, taking 129 wickets at only 15.15 with best figures of 8–45 among ten 5-wicket returns and five matches when he took 10 wickets. He held 15 catches and enjoyed what was probably his best season ever with the bat, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries in a tally of 783 runs at the respectable average of 22.37. His highest score was 104.
England again failed to recover The Ashes in a generally disappointing series which is memorable for Trueman completing the unprecedented feat in taking 300 career wickets in a Test career. He reached the milestone when he had Neil Hawke caught by Colin Cowdrey at slip in the Fifth Test at The Oval. Hawke, a good friend of Trueman off the field, was the first to congratulate him. The occasion produced one of Trueman's few concessions to fatigue when he was asked if he thought his record would ever be broken and he quipped: "Aye, but whoever does it will be bloody tired".[9] As Warr pointed out: "This comment reveals the essence of the man. A touch of belligerence, a hint of humility, a pinch of roughness and an over-riding sense of humour".Yorkshire lost the County Championship title which was won for the first time by a very strong Worcestershire team which starred Tom Graveney and featured Basil D'Oliveira, Norman Gifford and fast bowlers Len Coldwell and Jack Flavell.Trueman's overall achievements in 1964 did not meet his own high standards and his tally of exactly 100 wickets was well down on his totals in recent seasons. His average increased to a still creditable 21.94 but he only took 5 wickets in an innings three times with a best return of 5–48.He scored 595 runs in his 31 appearances with a highest score of 77 among four half-centuries; and he held 19 catches.
Although he had officially retired, Trueman made one final first-class appearance in 1969 when he agreed to appear at the Scarborough Festival and play for the International Cavaliers against the touring Barbados team.Trueman took 2,302 first-class wickets (including four hat-tricks) at an average of 18.27.[citation needed] Bob Platt remembered: "If I close my eyes I can still see him pawing the ground like a bull in a Spanish ring, then running up to the wicket like silk. Whenever he came back from a Test match to play for Yorkshire, he would put a few thousand on the gate. The Yorkshire public idolised him, just as we all did".[citation needed] In 459 first-class matches for the county, Trueman took 1,745 wickets at 17.12, a total bettered only by Wilfred Rhodes, George Herbert Hirst, Schofield Haigh and George Macaulay.[citation needed] He claimed 100 wickets in a season on 12 occasions, with a best return of 175 wickets in 1960. He holds the record for most consecutive first-class matches played (67) in which he took a wicket.Trueman surprisingly reappeared in 1972 when he joined Derbyshire and played in six limited overs matches.
On 8 August 2009, Fred Trueman was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place at Headingley during a Test match and Trueman's award was received by his widow, Veronica, who said: "It is an honour to receive this on Fred's behalf and I'm sorry that he isn't here for this great occasion. Fred regarded Headingley as his headquarters and it is a huge pleasure to be receiving this on his behalf in front of the Headingley crowd". Also honoured that day were Wilfred Rhodes, Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Botham.In his own words, Fred Trueman "didn't play cricket for social reasons like some of the fancy amateurs". It was his living and he "played to win". Conversely, he would try and do something each day to make the crowd laugh and "he breathed life and humour into any cricket match".He took his bowling very seriously indeed but he liked to entertain when he was batting. On the occasions when he captained his team, especially in 1968 when Brian Close was injured for a long time, he proved to be "a shrewd and intelligent exponent of the craft (of captaincy)".
It was his "sense of fun and mischief" that prompted him to make a habit of visiting the opposition dressing room and this was always "more than a social call". Sometimes he did genuinely want to see a "good mate" in the other team, such as Tony Lock or Brian Statham, but more often than not it was "a declaration of war, an acutely personal challenge, clothed in rollicking humour and self-caricature".Trueman always maintained his hostility towards the perceived arrogance and "snobbishness" of some in the cricketing establishment, especially the likes of Gubby Allen.He hated what he called "fancy caps", which specifically meant those of MCC and the universities, and was sometimes heard to say on seeing the wearer of such a cap that he would "pin him to t'bloody sightscreen".On one occasion, a Cambridge University batsman, having just been dismissed, acknowledged him with the condescending compliment: "That was a very good ball, Mr Trueman". Trueman replied: "Aye, wasted on thee".Trueman's view of the Gentlemen v Players fixture was that it was a "ludicrous business" that was "thankfully abolished" after the 1962 season.
From the beginning of his career, Trueman's run-up was "curving and long but nicely modulated".Reaching the wicket, Trueman now turned his body side-on and cocked back his ball-carrying right arm, as the leading left arm was hoisted, before "an awesome cartwheel" sent him into a followthrough which "resembled a Sea Fury finishing its mission along the runway of an aircraft carrier".Trueman's final stride had a "pronounced drag" which caused him some difficulties when the front-foot rule was introduced.Trueman kept his bowling arm high through the delivery stride, to generate extra bounce and pace off the pitch, and the movement of the ball was "predominantly away from the bat".Trueman maintained that his ability to bowl outswingers consistently was "another new ingredient I brought to the county game".As Maurice Leyland said to him: Keep bowling those outswingers, Fred, and you'll be all right. That's the one that gets the great batsmen out.Trueman acknowledged that other great fast bowlers who could bowl the outswinger well were Ray Lindwall and Wes Hall; but Brian Statham and Frank Tyson could not.
Trueman was one of the most charismatic cricketers of the post-war period and this charisma has been summarised in "the rolling up of the flapping shirt sleeve on the walk back to his mark; the tossing back of the wayward locks of black hair before the smooth accelerated run to the wicket culminating with a high cartwheel action and drag of the back foot through the crease".The conclusion is that "Trueman is one of English cricket's icons".In his early days, Trueman was "rapid, but also wayward and liable to be punished accordingly".His natural hostility in this period earned him his famous nickname of "Fiery Fred".But, "as the belligerence and raw pace of youth faded over the years, so in its place came a complete mastery of the bowling arts".Strength, determination and stamina were always among Trueman's greatest attributes and with maturity came a control of seam and swing".Trueman learned that it was unwise to "always follow a boundary with a bouncer" and instead he cultivated the yorker as "a potent weapon".When explaining his success as a fast bowler, Trueman always maintained that he was "blessed by two things from birth": the "Trueman tenacity" and the "perfect physique for a fast bowler". He said that the essentials for that perfect physique were having strong, thick legs – "always the first essentials" – with big shoulders and hips.Trueman's career lasted twenty seasons, an extremely long span for a fast bowler, and John Arlott noted of him that he maintained his form and ability "much longer than the peak period of even the best of the kind he was, when the fire burned, as fine a fast bowler as any".
Wisden described Fred Trueman as "probably the greatest fast bowler England has produced". Trueman would have considered this to be an understatement as he believed himself to be "t'finest fast bowler that ever drew breath" and there were many who agreed with him.Trueman had some talent as a batsman but he always saw himself as a specialist bowler and never aspired to becoming an all-rounder. In any case, he lacked the necessary consistency. He was "a batsman who liked to entertain" but he had a good defence with "a range of bold, attacking strokes".
Trueman preferred to field close in, his favourite position being leg slip, and he was fine and safe catcher.He was a "brilliant ambidextrous thrower" and he "made life very easy for his captain to place him advantageously in the field".Trueman was an expert summariser for the BBC's Test Match Special radio cricket commentaries for many years, and his catch phrase, "I don't know what's going off out there", summed up his dismay that modern cricketers lacked his knowledge of tactics.He was well-known for his direct style of commentary. For example, he once said about Geoffrey Boycott: "I know why Boycott's bought a house by the sea – so he'll be able to go for a walk on the water."
Famous for his dislike of many aspects of the modern game, especially one-day cricket and the injury rate of fast bowlers, Trueman was criticised by some, such as Ian Botham, for being unduly negative about modern players and for glorifying cricket "in my day".[citation needed] He once remarked, amusingly without any sense of irony, "We didn't have metaphors in my day. We didn't beat about the bush".
Trueman was nevertheless respected for his unsurpassed knowledge of the mechanics of fast bowling, and many feel he should have been used as a bowling coach for England's under-achieving teams of the 1980s and 1990s, a point once emphasised by his fellow-summariser Trevor Bailey on Test Match Special.[84] A good example of Trueman's coaching ability had occurred in 1975 when he was approached by the Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee for help. Lillee was having trouble with both his run-up and bowling action, problems that Trueman had already observed and mentioned on the radio. Trueman gave Lillee the technical advice that provided the solution and Lillee was soon able to recover his form, though this was at the expense of England. Trueman received criticism from many people in the England camp for helping an Australian player, especially after Lillee publicly acknowledged his debt to Trueman. Bailey, on the other hand, completely rejected this criticism and said that the "prima donnas" of English cricket should also have the sense to consult experts like Trueman.
In the 1970s Trueman presented the Yorkshire Television ITV programme Indoor League, which was broadcast at 5.15pm on a Thursday evening, after the children's programmes.[85] This show had a notably Northern, working class focus, and featured pub games such as darts, bar billiards, shove ha'penny, skittles and arm-wrestling. Trueman anchored the programme with a pint of bitter and his pipe to hand, and signed off each week with his catchphrase, "Ah'll sithee" (Yorkshire dialect for "I'll be seeing you").Trueman made guest appearances in a number of popular British television programmes of the 1970s, most notably in the Dad's Army episode The Test (series 4, episode 10).He was the subject of This Is Your Life on 5 December 1979.Trueman wrote a column in the Sunday People newspaper for 43 years to provide coverage of cricket and rugby league.[89] Soon after his retirement from cricket, he tried his hand at being a stand-up comedian but found after-dinner speaking to be a more congenial and lucrative
Fred Trueman married Enid Chapman in 1955 and had three children: Karen, Rebecca and Rodney.After divorce in 1972, Trueman remarried in 1973. His second wife was Veronica Wilson who had two children: Sheenagh and Patrick. They lived in the Craven village of Flasby, near Skipton, in the Yorkshire Dales.Having been a pipe-smoker all of his adult life, Trueman was elected Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1974 by the British Pipesmokers' Council. This award was discontinued in 2004, two years before Trueman was diagnosed with lung cancer, because its organisers feared it fell foul of new laws on tobacco promotion.
Trueman was made an OBE in 1989.But, after his Test Match Special colleague Brian Johnston had nicknamed him "Sir Frederick", there were those who thought he had really been knighted and many, particularly in his native county, who could not understand why he had not.Trueman received additional publicity in June 1990 when his daughter Rebecca married Damon Welch, the son of film star Raquel Welch.[94] However, the marriage was short-lived and ended in divorce two years later.In the 1990s, Trueman discovered that his maternal grandmother had been Jewish, making him Jewish in Jewish law. He said that he was happy to be called Jewish.
Trueman was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the lung in May 2006.He died of the disease on 1 July 2006 at Airedale General Hospital in Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire.He was buried in the cemetery at Bolton Abbey.On 18 March 2010, a bronze statue of Trueman by Yorkshire-born sculptor Graham Ibbeson was unveiled by Trueman's widow Veronica at the Leeds and Liverpool Canal basin in Skipton. Also in attendance were Trueman's brother Dennis and the former Test umpire Dickie Bird.
Test debut England v India at Leeds, Jun 5-9, 1952
Last Test England v New Zealand at Lord's, Jun 17-22, 1965
First-class span 1949-1969